WASHINGTON, D.C., January 5, 2011—Retail food prices at the supermarket increased slightly during the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey.

The North Dakota Legislature is underway today. The 112th Congress debuts tomorrow. While North Dakota legislators will undoubtedly debate road repair and flood control, Congress has more than 90 new members of the House and a dozen freshman senators.

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture will release its enhanced version of “My American Farm,” an interactive online educational program, at the American Farm Bureau’s annual meeting next week. Curtis Miller, the foundation’s director of education, talks about the new gaming platform.

The cows go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah...
The cows go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah...
The cows go marching one by one, the little cow stops for farming fun...
And they all go marching down… to the barn...to get out, of the field …BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The deadline to enter AFBF’s “Farm/Ranch Families Work” video contest is Wednesday, Dec. 29. The contest was announced Dec. 7, as a way for farm and ranch families to showcase some of the tough jobs they perform in the process of providing food and fiber for their fellow Americans.

BISMARCK, ND – The United States Census Bureau released the agency’s 2010 decennial count of population for the nation and each state. The actual count, which took place early in 2010, shows the population as of April 1, 2010. The results show North Dakota’s population grew by 30,391 people over the April 1, 2000 population count of 642,200. The new 2010 official state population is 672,591.

At 6 a.m. on December 24, the NDFB website will be down for a planned server upgrade. We expect the outage to last just a few hours, but because of changes that need to propagate the Internet, some services could take up to 72 hours to complete. We ask for your patience as we make this change.

By John Hart - Of all the traditions and symbols of Christmas, nothing is more enduring than the Christmas tree. Displayed in homes, public squares and office lobbies, the Christmas tree symbolizes the peace and joy of the season.